Easy Wok Chicken and Broccoli with rice

With the new year’s resolution health buzz in full swing, I thought a delicious, full-flavor, healthy dinner recipe would be nice to share. This Easy Wok Chicken and Broccoli with rice is amazing and delicious in all it’s simplicity. It’s the chicken in winner, winner, chicken dinner! The smokey wok-flavored chicken and broccoli paired with a sweet Asian teriyaki style sauce and hint of heat makes this a guilt-free, flavorful meal that won’t break that “healthier me in 2017” new year’s resolution. Full of fresh ingredients and lots delicious elements, it’s a must try. You will be so happy you did!I, and my family have a love for Asian food. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, you name it, we probably like it. We love cooking, and eating, dishes that incorporate fresh ingredients and flavors. My husband, Ryan, would eat stirfry, fish or pho every night if I would make it.Oh boy, was I surprised on Christmas morning. Ryan gave me an induction hot plate and a cast iron wok. This was a little outside my comfort zone. I hadn’t had much experience cooking with cast iron other than the occasional dutch oven meal while camping, let along a cast iron wok.Cooking with this wok has been a learning experience. I can dare say the first few batches of food that came out of it weren’t exactly delicious. But after trial and error, I feel one step closer to mastering my new cast iron wok. I cook with my wok at least once a week, whether for lunch or dinner. I’m still learning, but the food I turn out is so good, fresh and full of flavor. Lo Meins, veggie stirfrys, Thai, Chinese… it’s all so delicious!For dinner last night we had this chicken and broccoli with rice. While we ate the tasty Asian inspired wok food, Ryan said: “well, I guess we don’t need to go out for Chinese anymore.” Haha. It was probably the best compliment he could have given me. He’s my biggest critic around the dining room table. With that said, I feel more confident than ever in sharing with you, this amazing and Easy Wok Chicken and Broccoli recipe. I’ll also be sharing a few cast iron wok tips and tricks I learn the hard way and hope they help you move a few steps closer to Master of the Wok status.The full printable recipe is below. To make this Easy Wok Chicken and Broccoli recipe, here’s what you’ll need as far as ingredients go.

Chicken, sliced

Broccoli, cut into small florets

Sesame oil and high heat oil (coconut, peanut, etc)

Fresh ginger, minced

Fresh garlic, minced

Red chili flakes

Sauce (recipe below)

First off, when cooking with a wok you need a crazy amount of heat. I mean… blazing heat… 500+ degrees (F) in the pan. 600 degrees is even better. Using my induction hot plate, it takes 5-10 minutes to get the cast iron wok to the starting temperature–between 550-600 degrees. I have a laser heat gun I use to temp the pan. Once the pan is at the right temperature, in goes the peanut oil. Using the wok spatula, there is such a thing, coat the sides with the oil.Once the pan is oiled add the chicken. It will immediately begin to sear. That sizzling and searing sound is exactly what you want to hear. Using the spatula, move the chicken every few seconds. Cook until you no longer see any pink raw meat. If the pan is over 550 degrees it should only take a minute or two.Once the chicken is cooked almost all the way through, push to the upper part of the pan and add the broccoli florets. Don’t add water. You want the broccoli and chicken to get seared not steamed. Cook broccoli until it starts sweating. The easiest way to explain what that looks like is, the broccoli will look slightly wet and be bright green. It takes about 1-3 minutes, again, if your pan was above 550 degrees when you started.Once the broccoli has reached this point, push it up onto the side of the pan, where the chicken is. Add sesame oil to the pan and the garlic, ginger and chili flakes. Heat for a few seconds to release the aromas.Then stir the broccoli and chicken back in. Heat for 15-45 seconds. Lastly, add your sauce. Stir until thickened. It only takes 30 seconds, if that, for the sauce to thicken. Once the sauce has thickened, immediately remove the food from the wok.We love to eat this chicken and broccoli on a mound of jasmine rice, but if you wanted to go a little healthier brown rice is great too. This dish is one of our favorites. It’s quick, easy and so full of flavor. This is definitely a takeout fake-out recipe that will surprise anyone that tries it.If you happen to have leftovers, which I’m guessing you won’t, but if you do, I swear they’re just as tasty, if not better, than hot out of the wok. It’s gotta have something to do with the chicken and veggies marinading in that delicious sauce overnight. Man! Now I wish I had some leftovers I could enjoy right now. Yummmmm!I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below. Do you own a wok or would you like to cook with one? What’s your favorite takeout fake out dish?Here’s a little plug for all you penny pinchers like me… Zaycon Fresh for amazing quality meats! If you haven’t heard of or ordered from Zaycon Fresh, you totally need to check them out. They have a bunch of different meat products, from chicken and pork to beef steaks and ground meat. It’s all-natural, high-quality stuff for a fraction of supermarket price. I just ordered a 40lb case of chicken breast for less than $1.50 per pound. Crazy!

*This post contains affiliate links. In order to support this blog and continue providing free content, I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. Thanks!Original post: 1.21.17 Updated: 1.31.18

It always amazes me at how seasame oil changes the flavor of a dish. We were making a similar fried rice recipe at our house and someone suggested it to me and it made it so much better! I’ll have to try this quick recipe next time I want Chinese. Thanks!